Syrian airstrikes pound Idlib after loss of base, killing 50
Syrian airstrikes Tuesday targeted two hospitals and a besieged rebel enclave near the city of Homs, killing at least 50 people, anti-regime activists said, The Daily Star reported.
The strikes came a day after Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham insurgents overran a large military base in northwest Idlib province, leaving nearly 200 combatants dead.
Eight airstrikes pounded several areas of Idlib province including the Wadi Deif complex which was seized by the insurgents, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based, anti-regime monitoring group. The group said that airstrikes in and around the town of Maaret al-Numan, which is located next to the base, killed 10 people.
Strikes also hit Orient Hospital in the town of Kafranbel in Idlib, killing at least 12 people, local activists said. The identities of some victims were unknown, as the bodies were burned beyond recognition.
In eastern Deir al-Zor province, airstrikes targeted a hospital in the town of Mayadin, which is under the control of ISIS militants.
The Observatory said that five ISIS “commanders,” among them Kuwaitis and Tunisians, were killed, along with a doctor, his wife and son, a nurse and two female civilians. It said the casualty figure was expected to rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition.
Local activists did not mention any ISIS casualties, but said 10 were killed and listed their names.
Outside the central city of Homs, airstrikes targeted the rebel-held enclave of Waer, which has seen on-and-off negotiations over a truce with the regime in recent months.
The strikes killed at least 13 civilians, including a member of the neighborhood’s negotiating team and his wife, the Observatory said. Waer is the last rebel-held area of Homs, which was once known as the “capital of the revolution” against Assad.
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